This invention relates to a vehicle attachment for transporting snowmobiles and, more particularly, to a vehicle attachment to be mounted on a pick-up truck.
The most common method of transporting snowmobiles is by means of a trailer pulled by an automobile or truck, such as the trailer described in Canadian Patent 926,438, issued May 15, 1973. It is also usual to transport snowmobiles loaded on pick-up trucks. An example of a transporting attachment for pick-up trucks is the one described in Canadian Patent 911,378 issued Oct. 3, 1972. Other trailer-loading devices are also described in the literature, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,470,746, issued Sep. 11, 1984. Each of the known methods of transporting snowmobiles presents some difficulties in unloading the snowmobile. Thus, each of the designs shown in the prior art is arranged such that the snowmobile can be removed from the transporting vehicle only by backing it down a ramp. However, many snowmobiles are made without a reverse gear and for general use in snow, a reverse gear is simply not used because it causes the back ends of the skis to dig into the snow. Thus the only reason for installing a reverse gear is for backing a snowmobile down a ramp.
Modern snowmobiles have become very sophisticated and quite heavy, weighing as much as 500 lbs or more. A reverse gear not only adds further to this weight but also adds a considerable further Cost of up to $1,500.00.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a simple system for unloading a snowmobile from a vehicle without the need for a reverse gear.